2020 – present

Ceci n’est pas une douche (2021) – Found objects, organic matter, coins
Click here to read accompanying essay (English & Catalan).

El Refugi dels Gustos i Olors (2021) – Recycled fabric, recycled house paint, rice paper, essential oils
Click here to read accompanying essay (English & Catalan).

Rosary Uprooted (2020) – Found objects, porcelain & paper clay balls, hand painted tile, and fabric.

I am interested in the role religion plays in defining cultural norms, obstructing gender equality, and preventing institutional changes, such as legal reform. The presence of religious doctrine with a negative gender bias, entrenched in government institutions and a weak legal system are common factors in countries with high rates of gender-based violence and femicide.  In the case of Latin American countries, Catholicism introduced by Spanish conquistadors and missionaries has shaped a machismo culture and maintained gender inequalities. One example of this is Marianismo, the worship of Mary as the ideal woman – chaste, patient, passive, and accepting – which creates unrealistic expectations from men and unrealistic goals for women. One particularly insidious aspect of Marianismo is that women are advised to pray to the Virgin Mary via the rosary to obtain her virtue of patience and gain support and protection. This feeds a cycle of tolerating violence and self-blame.  Moreover, it draws attention away from the responsibility of the law to protect women.  

My piece Rosary Uprooted/ Rosari Desarrelat focuses on the rosary as an oppressive tool for maintaining a false and dangerous narrative for women, that is believed by both men and women. Breaking the “magical thinking” that using, reciting, praying the rosary can protect, heal and redeem is one essential component to breaking the cycle of gender-based violence in Catholic countries.

Mother Earth: Exhausted Vessel (2020) – Found pottery, human hair, fabric, embroidery.
Click here to read accompanying essay (English & Catalan).